People have known
about comets, unlike other small bodies in the Solar System, since ancient
times. The Chinese recorded visits by Halley's comet as far back as 240
B.C.

The famous Bayeux
Tapestry, which commemorates the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, depicts
an image of Halley's comet bright in the sky before the Battle of Hastings.

Some people thought
this meant that King Harold would lose his throne to William, the Duke
of Normandy. He did!

Edmund Halley of
England studied comets and developed a theory suggesting that those sighted
in 1531, 1607 and 1682 were actually the same object. He was the first
to successfully predict the comet’s next appearance in 1758, but he died
16 years before the comet returned.

Halley’s comet reappears
every 76 years. Its next appearance is in 2061. Maybe you will see it return!
Here’s a good picture of the comet.